Tattoo
by SaultNPeppah
Summary: When Diana sees a strange image on one of her fellow Founder's arm, it leads to some questions, and a bet.


So I wanted to save this for a rainy day, but I figured it's labor day, most people have the day off, so why not post it. Just a cute little one shot. Hope you enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.

* * *

Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Wonder Woman to the rest of the world, walked through the hallways of the Watchtower, her eyebrows furrowed and her hands clenched into fists. This morning had started off wonderfully, but after the mission she had just come back from, she had wanted nothing more than to snuggle up in bed with Bruce. Instead, he had been avoiding her like the plague, wanting to prevent anyone from finding out about them.

The two had been dating, secretly, for a few months. Only Bruce's boys and Alfred knew about the two of them, and as persistent as Diana had been in trying to convince Bruce to tell Clark and the rest of the Founders, he had denied her request time and time again. "They'll know when they need to," he had told her. "They don't need to know anything yet." And although Diana understood where he was coming from, she didn't want to hide their relationship any longer. She wanted their friends to know about them. She wanted them all to be happy she had finally broke through his walls.

She continued to walk down the halls, a destination firmly planted in her mind. When she had last seen Bruce, or rather Batman, he had reminded her they needed to keep a distance while they were working. They couldn't allow their relationship to get in the way of a mission. It was one of the reasons he had been adamant on denying his feelings for the Amazon. But Diana was just as persistent, chiseling at the wall he built around his emotions, until she had finally cracked it and was able to break through, grabbing firmly onto his heart, refusing to let go.

As she continued to walk, the corners of her mouth twitched into a smirk. She shook her head as her thoughts became more consumed by the caped crusader. Bruce could be an arrogant asshole, and he was the only one who could frustrate her to no end, but she was in love with the man. Besides, when he was too overbearing, she was always able to sway his views in only a way she knew how; it was one of her many powers.

Diana stopped in front of the door she had been searching for, the smile on her face widening as thoughts of Bruce continued to swirl through her mind. She let the door swish open and quickly stepped inside. The door gently slid closed behind her, and when she looked up and across the room, her eyes narrowed when she noticed she was not alone. On the other end of the room stood one of her fellow Founders, his fist flying before they landed on the punching bag hanging from a beam above his head.

Diana watched as he stepped back swiftly with his left leg, before he raised his right and kicked the bag with a small grunt. She watched as the muscles of his arms tightened as he threw another punch to the bag, the dark markings above the crook of his elbow coming into view. She raised an eyebrow as her eyes wandered over the strange markings, the curiosity on her face apparent. She watched as he stepped back from the bag and placed a hand on his bare knee before he dropped his head, the sweat on his brow running down his face as he tried to calm his labored breathing.

He turned his head, his eyes widening when he saw Diana standing at the end of the room, staring at him. "Diana," he greeted with a nod, standing up straight as he wiped the rest of the sweat from his forehead.

"Hi John," she replied with a smile. She watched as John walked over to the end of the room and picked up a water bottle. His t-shirt clung to his body and the bottom of his basketball shorts skimmed his legs just above his knees; she had never seen him out of his Green Lantern uniform.

"I'm done now, if you need the room," he said, twisting the lid off the bottle, before he chugged half of its contents.

Diana nodded a thanks and fixed the waistband of her shorts, her eyes still focused on the image on his arm. She tilted her head, trying to get a better view of his arm, as she bit her lip in concentration. "What's that?" she asked, using a slender finger to point to John's arm.

John glanced down at his arm, his brow furrowed in confusion, before he relaxed and let out a chuckle. "It's called a tattoo," he explained.

Diana gave him a small nod, however she was still confused by what this tattoo was. "What is it?" she asked, wanting him to further explain the strange markings. Back home she had never seen such a thing.

John let out another chuckle, his deep voice reverberating throughout the room, and stepped closer to her. "Most people get them to keep a permanent reminder of something that means something special to them," he explained. "Some people get drunk and get stupid ones." He lowered his arm and pulled the sleeve of his shirt further up onto his bicep. He joined Diana in glancing down at his tattoo, the dark outlines of the USMC causing his lips to pull into a smile.

"What does this one mean?" Diana asked curiously. She placed a finger on her lips and narrowed her eyes once more, an idea starting to form in her mind.

"It stands for United States Marine Corps," he said, "I got it when I was in the military."

Diana continued to stare at her teammate's tattoo. "It holds special meaning to you, yes?" She watched as John nodded. "And where do you get such a thing?" she asked. She was still fairly new to Man's World, so there were things that were still unventured territory to her, and tattoos were never something that had come across during any of her and Bruce's conversations.

"You have to go to a shop, or a parlour," he responded, "But don't let Batman know I was the one who told you." With that he walked out of the room, leaving Diana alone with her thoughts.

She quickly adjusted the hem of her shirt and walked over to the training simulator, remembering she needed to release the pent up frustration from her last conversation with Bruce. She heard the door slide open and although her back was facing the newest occupant, she knew who had come to disturb her training session.

"Batman," Diana grumbled, pressing a few keys on the control pad of the simulator. She heard him grunt a response behind her as he made his way to her, stopping to stand next to her.

"How are you not exhausted?" he mumbled. He watched as she shrugged, glancing at him from the corner of her eye, before she pressed another button on the control panel. "Well, you could always just spar with me."

Diana whipped her head to the side and raised an eyebrow. "Are you offering?" she asked, placing a hand on her hip, intrigued by his offer. She watched as he nodded with a slight grin, before her eyes widened with excitement. "How about we make things interesting?"

Batman stared at Diana and one of the white lenses of his cowl widened as he cocked an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?" he asked quietly, taking a step closer to his girlfriend. He placed his masked face closer to her body and took a deep breath. Her scent was absolutely intoxicating, and he couldn't wait to get her alone once more. He knew she was upset about what he had said during their mission earlier, and he wanted to make it up to her; he knew a good sparring session would cheer her up. "The same wager as always?" he asked with a smirk.

Diana chuckled. Of course he would be thinking of sex. The man was insatiable - although the same could have been said for her. "I actually had something else in mind," Diana said with a grin. She watched as Batman tilted his head, intrigued. "Loser has to get a tattoo," she said, the grin on her face growing.

Batman's lips turned into a tight line. The white lenses of his cowl narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't think so," Batman said, the irritation in his voice evident.

Diana cocked an eyebrow and placed her other hand on her hip. She flashed him another grin and let out a small chuckle. "Are you worried you might lose?" she smugly asked him.

Diana watched as Batman's lips turned into a small frown before he sighed. "Those are permanent, Princess," he said, his voice a little deeper as he took a step closer to Diana.

She lifted her hands from her hips and crossed them over her chest, before she gave him a slight nod. "I know," was all she said, before she leaned closer to him. She let her shoulder brush against his chest and let her lips curl into another smile when she heard his breath hitch in his throat. "So are we doing this, or not?" she asked, stepping past him to the mat at the end of the room.

Bruce let out a sigh as he dropped his head. He knew once Diana had her mind set on something it was near impossible to get her to ignore it. He only hoped he wouldn't be the one to lose this match.

* * *

 **Two Weeks Later**

Bruce continued to descend the stairs into the cave, trying to stifle a yawn that had been trying to make its way out since early that afternoon. He had had a full day of meetings at work, and with a new ring of sex traffickers deciding they were going to set up shop in Gotham, his nightly activities only added to his already overbearing workload. And to add to his stress, the League had been asking for his help on many of their missions; he had thought he had made himself clear when he said he would be a part-time member only, but he knew he could never say no to Diana when she asked for help. After all, with all the work he was putting himself through, League missions were the only time he and Diana got to spend time together; he quickly made a mental note to change that, and soon.

As he continued to walk down the stairs, his ears perked when he heard the muffled voices. He continued to listen, each voice getting more and more clear with each step, until he was able to make out who exactly was in the cave. He heard Tim and Dick talking, while Jason would unconsciously mutter obscenities to himself, however the one voice he hadn't expected to hear was Diana's. What was she doing in the cave?

He quickly finished his descent, stopping once both feet hit the floor of the cave, and made his way over to the four. Once both Tim and Dick saw Bruce they froze, both quickly stopping their conversation in fear Bruce would overhear. They knew his view on the particular topic they had chosen to discuss, and would rather not have had a lecture before going on patrol. Jason, on the other hand, no longer worked with Bruce, so he was much less careful about what he said. "About time you showed up," Jason said with a smirk, watching as the older man glared at him, before Bruce moved his attention to the two quietly whispering in the corner.

"What are you two up to?" Bruce asked, not waiting for an answer before his gaze turned to Diana, who had made herself comfortable in his computer chair. His eyes quickly scanned her body, unable to help the small grin that appeared on his face when he saw her still in her uniform from an earlier mission. "Hi," he whispered, walking up to where she sat, stopping right besides the chair. He watched as she flashed him a smile in response, before her attention turned back to Tim and Dick, who were both eyeing Bruce with uncertainty, as they continued their conversation.

"They're trying to see how angry you would be if they got tattoos," Jason said, his smirk growing as both of the boys turned to glare at him. All it did was earn each of them a middle finger, before Jason pulled on his red helmet and leaned against part of the batcomputer.

Bruce's eyes narrowed as he looked up at Dick. "I don't think so," he said. He watched as Dick scrunched his nose and dropped his shoulders, before his own eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"Bruce, I'm an adult," Dick said as he placed his mask onto his face. "Tim turns eighteen next month. We technically don't need your permission."

"Oh, finally standing up to the big man," Jason muttered, which earned him a glare from Bruce, and a smirk from Diana. Out of all of Bruce's boys, she and Jason had a special bond. It wasn't as if she didn't enjoy the company of Tim or Dick, she loved all of them the same, and enjoyed moments with each of them. Jason just like to get under Bruce's skin; it was something Diana enjoyed doing as well, much to Bruce's dismay.

Bruce watched as Diana turned away from Jason with a chuckle, shaking her head, before her eyes moved up and locked on his. "Don't encourage this," he muttered to Jason, who only shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest. He turned to face Dick and Tim once more, his eyebrows still furrowed, and he flared his nostrils. "A tattoo is just another identifiable marker on your person," he said. "All it takes is one mistake, one person to see it, and they can figure out who you are. They can figure out who we all are."

He watched as both Tim and Dick groaned in frustration as they shook their heads, knowing there was no arguing with Bruce. They could go out behind his back and do what they wanted, but they were both worried about the consequences if - when- he found out. "Get started on patrol," he said to Tim, watching as the teen nodded, placed his mask on his face, and jumped onto his motorcycle. Without another word, Robin was racing out of the Batcave, Nightwing and Red Hood following close behind, leaving Bruce alone in the cave with Diana.

He watched as she stood from her seat and took a step towards him, her hand grabbing for his arm as she came closer. "You don't have to be so hard on them," she said with a smile. Her eyes glanced down at Bruce's arm when he snaked it around her waist, before he pulled her close, letting her chest gently press against his as his lips claimed hers in a kiss.

"I know," he mumbled when she pulled away.

Diana let out a small scoff as her fingers gently toyed with the fabric of his t-shirt. She had been without him, without his touch, for over a week. Besides League missions, where he would come and assist, and leave right after, she hadn't seen him in days. She wanted nothing more than for him to whisk her away to his bedroom and make love to her well into the morning, but she knew he had a job to do. He was dedicated to saving Gotham and the world. It was one of the things she admired most about him, even if it meant their time together was scarce. "And don't you think you're being a little hypocritical?"

Bruce felt her hand gently pat above his heart as the other snaked under his shirt. In one swift movement she pulled his shirt off and her gaze fell to the dark lines on his chest, just below his left shoulder, a smile on her face as her fingers gently grazed the three small lines that formed the two Ws. She had picked it, and wanting to prove she could be as cocky as Bruce, had decided this would be the one he would get. There was no getting rid of her now, as her symbol was literally etched into his skin for eternity.

"A bet is a bet," was all he said, before he leaned down to capture her lips in another kiss. His hands gently found their way to her hips as he continued to kiss her, gently trailing up the sides of her body until his fingers grazed the top of her uniform.

"How long do you think it'll be until they figure it out?" Diana asked, gently swiping her finger over the tattoo on his chest once more, a smile on her face when she remembered how annoyed he had been sitting in the chair, the needle piercing his skin. She had only wished she would be able to tell the story to Clark some day.

Bruce shrugged. "I give it a few days," he whispered. His fingers danced along the edge of her uniform and he was tempted to pull the fabric down a few inches, if only to see the small black lines that now decorated her skin. "Although, you know you didn't have to get one too," he said, a smirk on his face as his finger looped into her top and pulled it down, showing him the small bat symbol she had on her skin. It was his symbol. His mark. She would have that on her body forever - and he couldn't have been more ecstatic to know she was marked as his for eternity.

Diana shrugged. She lifted her right arm and looked down at the small tattoo on her body. "It was exhilarating," she confessed. "But I don't think I'll ever do it again. Besides, this is the only mark one would ever want permanently." She watched as Bruce raised an eyebrow and gave her another smile, causing her heart to skip a beat. Hera help her. The things that man's smile did to her was completely unnatural and she swore she would end up having a heart attack if he continued to look at her that way.

"I love you," Bruce blurted out. He stared at Diana, who only chuckled, surprised by his confession. This was not how he had intended to tell her he loved her. This was one of the least romantic ways he could have admitted his deepest darkest feelings for the woman. He closed his eyes, fearing she would reject his confession, but when he heard her chuckling cease and felt her hand cup his cheek, he couldn't help his heart from racing.

He opened his eyes, letting them widen when they met her beautiful blue irises. "I love you too, Bruce," she said, offering him a smile. She gently stroked his cheek with her thumb, her smile widening when she felt him replace the top of her uniform to where it had been moments prior. "Go on patrol," she said, taking a step back, "I'll be here when you get back."

Bruce nodded, leaned in, and kissed her lips once more. Without a word he walked away from her, suddenly ready to get through patrol so he could come home to Diana and stare at her body and its new decoration, without the hindrance of her clothing.


End file.
